Why The Miz Has Thrived in Recent Weeks

Despite a loss to Dolph Ziggler on Raw, the Miz has been on a tear of late, primarily setting his sights on Antonio Cesaro and his United States title.

The stage was set on a recent episode of MizTV, with wrestling legend Ric Flair as the guest.

Cesaro interrupted the fun, and was summarily attacked by Flair and the Miz. As he went to apply his feared figure-four leglock, Flair paused and motioned for the Awesome One to do it instead.

Since having the move bestowed upon him several weeks ago, Miz has not been shy about implementing it in his matches.

However, at times he seems to have issues applying the maneuver, as in his match with Ziggler. As the Miz attempted to apply his new finisher on the Show-Off, he missed Ziggler’s crossed leg and ended up tying him up in a crooked type of spinning toehold instead.

To their credit, however, both Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler continued on commentary as if the dreaded hold was cinched in, this before Big E. Langston aided Ziggler in escaping.

At age 32, the Miz is far from reaching the apex of his career. And with multiple championship reigns in his wake, including two with the aforementioned United States title, the Miz could easily rest on his laurels and call it a successful career.

However, never one to do so, he has excelled in recent months since adopting a new attitude and a much warmer reaction to the WWE Universe. In turn, fans have begun to embrace his sometimes abrasive and cocky character and this has led him to his current feud with Cesaro.

Other than a brief feud with R-Truth, Cesaro has not had a legitimate foe during his near year-long run with the company.

The Miz offers Cesaro a change to engage in a long and fruitful exchange over the U.S. title, which will greatly benefit the two parties involved.

Cesaro gives the Miz a world-class tuneup opponent before his long awaited journey back to the top of the talent mountain.

Conversely, the Miz automatically legitimizes Cesaro as a threat, though in fairness, the Swiss bully seems to need no help in that category, as he seems to be one of the most impressive young superstars in recent memory.

In both regards, the two superstars can and will make each other better.

Scheduled as the main event of the Royal Rumble pre-show, the Miz and Cesaro will duke it out for bragging rights.

And of course, the United States title will also be on the line.

It is worth noting that Cesaro originally won the belt in August at the pre-show for SummerSlam. And sure, he is certainly capable of holding on to it for the long term.

But if all goes according to plan for the Miz, he could soon be wearing a shiny new accessory around his waist, solely at the expense of Cesaro.